JAVS Fall 2012

first. To record, hit the appropriate foot pedal and play in tempo for the length of the “looping” selec tion. (If you have a short riff, remember that you may need to repeat it so that the loop is at least a measure long. Otherwise, the unit will not record a seamless loop, and the meter will be off.) Hit the appropriate pedal(s) to stop recording and start the loop playing.

How can I use a looper to create a one-person rendition of a pop song?

Listen to the song and map out the form (e.g., “Intro, verse 1–chorus–verse 2–chorus–guitar solo–bridge–chorus–chorus, outro). Figure out the chordal patterns of the different sections—are there repeats? Try playing some of the different layers on your instrument. Can you play the bass line? The rhythm guitar strums? The singer’s melody? Once you know the form and have figured out how to create the layers, set your looper to the tempo of the song. (Most loopers will let you set a tempo by entering its metronome number or by tapping it in with your foot.) Loopers generally will display the tempo via a flashing light, and most will allow you to create a one-bar count-off, if desired.

There ... you did it! you made your first “loop.” Now for some fun!

Once the loop is going, you can play along or improvise with it. If you wish to layer more parts, you can overdub them by stepping on the appropri ate pedal. When creating your arrangement, keep in mind that you should have a loop that covers the longest part that you want to play in one pass. Otherwise you will have out-of-sync overlapping loops (which in some cases may be a nice effect).

Okay, now you’re ready to record.

Depending on the riffs of the song, you may want to record a bass line, a melody, or the rhythmic groove

Remember that most loopers have an “undo” fea ture, much like on many computer software pro

V OLUME 28 NUMBER 2 57